How to be OTT right here at home
For high-rollers looking for summer sun, South Africa has plenty of extravagance
Globally, opulent holidays might be associated with hanging out in Monte Carlo, skiing in Aspen or yachting in the Maldives, but South Africa and Cape Town in particular
is no slouch in terms of luxury offerings for the fabulously rich.
A private chef, who agreed to spill the beans provided he was not named, said most of these clients were respectful and courteous. A few were “extremely odd” or behaved appallingly.
“Chris Evans and Charles Dance the old actor from Game of Thrones were particularly good guys. But Justin Bieber, who brought his whole crew out and booked an entire floor of the One&Only hotel, was a bit of a monster. They were running around knocking on room doors.
“Vin Diesel was very weird. He never ate at the restaurant, ordering room service. His door was only ever answered by two blonde women ... and he only ever spoke through [other] people.”
The chef recently assisted teams catering for a five-day wedding in Stellenbosch.
“The family took over the entire estate and nearest hotel for five days of celebrating. They had 50 local guests and flew in another 70 or 80 from overseas.”
Private chefs, chauffeurs, personal shoppers, childminders, butlers and sommeliers make life a breeze for the rich as they lounge in luxury accommodation or gad about in chartered jets and private yachts.
Cape Town venues for guests with deep pockets include the penthouse at the Silo Hotel at the V&A Waterfront for a little under R150,000 a night. It boasts a cinema, spa treatment room, walk-in wardrobes, marble bathrooms and private balconies with panoramic views.
Private villas in Clifton sleeping up to 10 include The Pentagon at R105,000 a night, Obsidian (R70,000), Villa Iron Man (R300,000) and Beyond (R135,000).
A search for exotic vehicles to hire revealed a Bentley Broadlands (R24,000 a day), a Ferrari 485 Italia or a Mercedes Maybach
2600 (R22,000 a day), a Mercedes SLS (R21,000), a Porsche 911 GT3 (R20,000) and an Aston Martin (R19,500).
Then there are the chartered yachts. Moored at the V&A Marina, the motor yacht Sherilyn offers 25m of “luxurious floating indulgence”. Equipped to take up to 20 guests (or eight sleeping), it can be hired from Private Yacht Charters for R109,600 a full day. Or there’s the Mirage catamaran — customised to withstand capricious weather — which can be hired for R143,000 a day.
The cost of chartering a private aircraft varies depending on the date, time and number of passengers — with quotes given in foreign currency. The Sunday Times inquired about one-way charter flights from Johannesburg to Cape Town on December 27. Sample prices were £19,550 (about R461,000) for a Learjet 45XR and £6,600 for a King Air 200.
Fine-dining options seem endless on an unlimited budget. Booking service Take a Chef said the average cost of a private chef in Cape Town was R1,450 per person, dropping slightly for bigger groups. But a top-notch chef offering global calibre fine dining costs about R10,000 a day, said celebrity chef, trainer and lecturer Fortunato Mazzone of the Forti chain in Gauteng.
“And that’s a lot cheaper than you would pay overseas, where you are looking at €1,500 [about R30,000] a day,” he said. “I know a lot of guys who go down to Cape Town for the holidays. They move in with the zillionaires, sort their breakfast, lunch and supper and make a lot of money.”
Mazzone, who owns restaurants, a delicatessen and a goat farm, imports hard-tofind delicacies — “what I call the unicorn ingredients, your truffles and caviar and the very best cheese”, he said.
Quoting prices off the top of his head, he said white Alba truffles from the Piedmont region in Italy were in season at R85/g. Mature Comté cheese from France costs about R1,400/kg.
“Our local wagyu beef is excellent and there you are looking at between R500/kg and R1,200/kg depending on the cut, and then double that if it is imported,” he added.
Then there is the choice of what to imbibe. Michael Crossley, manager of Reciprocal Wines, said: “People in general might be struggling, but clearly the top end of the market is bulletproof.
“Our pinnacle product is Cristal [Champagne] which goes for R6,500 a bottle.”
The well-heeled also enjoy luxury safaris. Marula Hill Travel, founded by Sian Loehrer and Vikki Jackson, specialises in luxury safaris and bespoke holidays with customised itineraries. “Some distinct options stand out when choosing the ultimate South African experience without budget constraints,” said Loehrer.
Sample packages include a night or two at the five-star Silo Hotel in Cape Town, then on to a “vineyards suite” at La Residence in Franschhoek before travelling to Royal Malewane at Thornybush Game Reserve in Mpumalanga. The other option, Loehrer said, was a safari experience at Cheetah Plains in Mpumalanga. “For families seeking luxury, privacy, opulence, art and bespoke experiences, Cheetah Plains’ exclusive-use villas in the Sabi Sand are unparalleled.”